Post by: bearpaw on March 18, 2016, 12:29:12 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 18, 2016, 03:17:05 PM
Post by: Duffer on March 18, 2016, 10:00:46 PM
I'm hoping to visit again this year :tup:
Post by: hunting4sanity on March 18, 2016, 10:50:10 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 27, 2016, 10:21:32 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 28, 2016, 10:35:09 AM
Post by: Gringo31 on March 28, 2016, 11:37:45 AM
Post by: Jarhead Chase on March 28, 2016, 12:24:24 PM
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
Post by: Kit Carson on March 28, 2016, 08:07:20 PM
Where do you buy your refurbished Bushnell cams?
Post by: bearpaw on March 30, 2016, 10:05:10 AM
Awesome picstuff!
Where do you buy your refurbished Bushnell cams?
They had over 200 of them at Natchez, but they sold out already. I was going to get a few more but wasn't quick enough. If you check Google and Amazon there were several other businesses that had various refurbished cameras from $30 to $70.
Post by: bearpaw on March 30, 2016, 10:12:30 AM
Post by: quadrafire on March 30, 2016, 10:17:18 AM
Was out scouting this morning. Dang, too many birds, I'm not sure what I want to do Saturday for youth season with the kids!Maybe just sit in your back yard :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on March 30, 2016, 10:28:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 30, 2016, 10:35:14 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 30, 2016, 06:40:58 PM
Post by: Trapper John on March 30, 2016, 09:54:38 PM
I'm thinking you should plan on taking that old boy there :chuckle: :chuckle: :yike:
I hope to get out next month after one of these boys.
JC :hello:
Post by: bowhunterforever on March 30, 2016, 10:07:26 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 31, 2016, 10:14:24 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 31, 2016, 10:45:50 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 31, 2016, 02:29:28 PM
Post by: steen on March 31, 2016, 07:02:02 PM
I got a couple more photos of that tom last night a little later, not long before they went to roost.
I just love how the sun catches their tail fans...so beautiful!
Post by: Machias on April 01, 2016, 07:43:24 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 01, 2016, 09:15:54 AM
Those jakes trying to look all big and bad crack me up. Some nice looking longbeards as well!! Good luck with your spring season Dale!
:chuckle: Thanks Fred!
Post by: bearpaw on April 01, 2016, 09:20:58 AM
Post by: Whitpirate on April 01, 2016, 10:26:02 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 01, 2016, 10:35:16 AM
Looks great Dale! Best of luck this season. I'm gonna have to look you up for a youth hunt later this year.
You should look me up tonight, I had a call and two cancellations last night for this weekend!
Post by: Whitpirate on April 01, 2016, 10:36:24 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 01, 2016, 10:38:37 AM
I'd love to but the kid is already got a commitment this weekend. Dang it!
Sorry, it doesn't get any better than the youth hunt!
Post by: Whitpirate on April 01, 2016, 10:39:23 AM
Post by: et1702 on April 01, 2016, 01:16:48 PM
Very Nice Dale! Can't wait to get DIY Turkey map I ordered from you last weekend.
Thanks,
ET
Post by: bearpaw on April 02, 2016, 04:28:53 PM
Post by: steen on April 02, 2016, 07:44:00 PM
Caleb smacked this 9 1/4 tom this morning, a few other toms didn't stand still long enough or he would have had #2 this morning. He is back after #2 this evening. Jade didn't get a bird yet, 55 yards was as close as the birds came this morning, she is back out hunting this afternoon too! Congrats to Caleb! :tup: :tup:Beautiful picture of an awesome young hunter and a beautiful bird!!
Post by: bearpaw on April 03, 2016, 08:50:33 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on April 03, 2016, 08:52:10 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 03, 2016, 01:59:16 PM
Post by: jrebel on April 03, 2016, 02:11:15 PM
Post by: Big game archer on April 03, 2016, 03:09:47 PM
Post by: quadrafire on April 03, 2016, 08:46:54 PM
Post by: Gobble Gobble on April 03, 2016, 11:42:11 PM
Post by: Mark251 on April 04, 2016, 10:36:02 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 04, 2016, 02:29:56 PM
Got any bear hunters yet?
Yes, I am nearly full, I hope to be posting bear photos when the time comes! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on April 09, 2016, 11:22:05 AM
Very Nice Dale! Can't wait to get DIY Turkey map I ordered from you last weekend.
Thanks,
ET
Thanks ET, I marked numerous good hunting areas and several camping spots, I added some extra hunting tips that should help you, I marked a spot where there are birds roosting now, and I marked additional spots I've found birds roosting in the past. Good luck hunting, be sure and let me know how you do!
Thanks Again,
Dale
Post by: bearpaw on April 09, 2016, 11:39:03 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 11, 2016, 07:32:54 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 11, 2016, 07:46:15 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 11, 2016, 08:00:09 AM
Post by: RadSav on April 15, 2016, 10:48:33 PM
If you find any big bulls "For Sale" let me know - wife drew multi-season. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on April 16, 2016, 10:56:51 AM
Doug was done first, guide Brian and Doug used the cover of darkness to get Doug in close to the roost, some of the birds flew down, the first big gobbler strutted within easy range and Doug smoked him, another big gobbler saw big tom #1 go down and took the chance to"settle an old score", tom #2 ran over and attacked poor old tom #1 in his time of need. Doug said the feathers were flying off big tom #1 and tom #2 wouldn't hold still for a shot. Finally, before tom #1 was completely plucked, Doug was able to put the smack down on tom #2. So it was wham, bam, two toms slammed, I love it when a plan comes together!
:chuckle: :IBCOOL:
Guide Brian dropped off Mike V in a blind on a ridge the birds always use. Early in the morning Mike V nailed a dandy longbeard but stayed on the ridge. Brian went to get Mike V for lunch, as he was driving in to get Mike a nice tom was standing in the road not far from Mike, the tom turned and ran up the road, as luck would have it the tom ran right up to where Mike was sitting, the tom stopped and Mike hammered his 2nd tom. Nice going Mike, we''ll take a little luck any day.
Guide Ray had Mike L and Charlie, they set up in two spots close to roosts. At daylight the birds flew down and Charlie missed 4 times, oooooops! They hunted a bit more and decided to jump in the truck and drove a few miles to a different property and set up by the wedding arch. "The landowner had married his wife on the property under that arch". It wasn't long and a tom strutted out by the wedding arch, Mike L took careful aim and whammo, big bird down, he shot right through the wedding arch, we'll call that bird the "wedding tom".
In the afternoon guide Ray and Charlie spotted a nice tom working a field edge, they snuck up through a creek bottom and crawled up to the field, Charlie drilled that tom. Good going Charlie! :tup:
I put Fred in position well before daylight with a dozen long beards roosted close. Mike S and I headed over to a different roost about 1/4 mile away. At daylight our birds came off the roost but went the other way into the neighbors place so we headed over to some other birds we had heard, the problem is they were in an open field and henned up, I couldn't get them to come. We headed around a different way to try and get closer but ran into some jakes and had to freeze, finally the jakes went out of sight so we inched closer but the jakes came back so we were pinned down again. As we sat there another group of 6 jakes came around the hillside marching right toward us, Mike decided to take one of the jakes, BOOM, that jake goes flopping down the hillside, I said "Lets stay still, maybe the tom will run over to take advantage of the downed bird!". We sat and watched as 25 more jakes came running over to see "what happened to Bill", but the hen and tom stayed out in the field. It was pretty cool watching 25 jakes running around their fallen brother "Bill", and then they all took off running across the field. We messed around the rest of the morning but only got onto jakes and hens. Fred had a couple toms fairly close but wasn't sure they were quite close enough so he didn't shoot. We loaded Mike's jake and headed back for lunch.
In the afternoon we put Fred in a little different spot and Mike and I went after a tom that guide Daniel had seen by a waterhole. Mike and I were headed to the waterhole and spotted four toms in a pasture. Mike put a sneak on the birds and dropped a nice tom to finish off his hunt. We took photos and headed back to see if we would see the tom at the waterhole, along the way we saw fresh bear tracks and woohoo a pile of bear poo "the earliest I've found fresh poo". We made it back to the waterhole and sure enough the tom was there, we watched him a while and snapped a few photos and then went back to the house to clean our bird.
Post by: bearpaw on April 16, 2016, 01:34:03 PM
In the afternoon Daniel hunted a different property with both Jims. Virginia Jim didn't have any shooting opportunities but Oregon Jim had good luck and nailed a good bird, so the Jims finished the day with one bird each. Virginia Jim had hunted with us about 15 years ago, he was working on a "Certified State Slam, that's a bird from all 49 states that have turkey with submitted paperwork including references certifying all the birds." He killed a bird with us then and he has told us that he finished his Certified State Slam and is one of only 3 hunters who have completed a Certified State Slam. Now he is working on the 2nd Certified State Slam and hopes to be the first person to complete two Certified State Slams. He is hunting nine states this spring, he hunted Montana the first of the week, he hunted with us, and tomorrow he is headed to Idaho and then to Oregon and California.
My wife Tara had two hunters, Cheryl and Kurt, she had them both hunting in good spots, Kurt missed a couple times but Cheryl only saw hens on the morning hunt. In the afternoon we had them both move just a little but still hunting the same general area. Kurt saw a lot of hens but didn't see any toms in the afternoon. It wasn't long after getting in position and Cheryl had a big tom come in and she hammered that bird. About an hour passed and here came another tom, she smacked another good tom so her hunt was finished. Nice going Cheryl! :IBCOOL:
We finished the day with the "LUCKY 13" and five of our hunters tagged out! :)
Post by: bearpaw on April 17, 2016, 06:19:13 PM
We had five hunters left in camp who needed 7 birds. We strategized where everyone should hunt for the best odds of success. Guide Daniel took Oregon Jim to the waterhole where we both had seen a nice tom and he took Virginia Jim back to the fence line where he had killed his bird the day before. I set Fred up on the same roosted birds as the opening morning, and Ray went back to the newly named "Reload Ridge" where the birds were missed the day before. Kurt hunted the same area as Cheryl had killed her birds.
Oregon Jim smacked a good tom at the waterhole early. Meanwhile Virginia Jim had fallen asleep waiting for the birds to come off the roost. He suddenly awoke with a tom a few feet from him, he was surprised and so was the tom, it took off running to get under the fence, Jim missed him twice, then the tom turned direction, Jim fired his last cartridge and dropped the bird at 60 yards with hevishot. He said he was so rattled that those first two shots were probably way off, he knew that last shot was his last chance at that bird and made it count. Nice going JIm! :tup:
Guide Ray took Charlie and Mike L back to the newly named "Reload Ridge". When the birds came off the roost and came to the guys they missed twice but made the third shot count. Mike was tagged out, now Ray could concentrate on Charlie. They went to a different property and spotted a good tom working his way up along side a pasture. They worked around and got in position, the tom walked within range and Charlie dropped him which finished his hunt, nice going Charlie! :tup:
We had Fred watching the same birds as the day before, but once again they avoided coming within range so the morning was a bust for Fred. Guide Brian picked up Fred early and took him over to a different property, it was the right move, within two hours Fred had two nice toms and they were headed back for lunch. Meanwhile Kurt waited and waited but saw no toms, only hens. Everyone was finished now except Kurt, we had lunch and decided to get Kurt right back out hunting. He saw three toms but not within range. A couple hours went by and three jakes came by, two of them were lined up so Kurt tried for a twofer, he nailed them both with one shot, sweet, I love it when a plan comes together. All 10 hunters were tagged out by 4pm on the 2nd day, I think that's the best hunt we've ever had.
Post by: Big game archer on April 17, 2016, 07:29:46 PM
Post by: Ripper on April 18, 2016, 12:36:12 PM
Post by: Trapper John on April 18, 2016, 07:11:58 PM
Nice Birds :tup:
I hope to get out by the end of the month, I just have to much going on the next two weeks. :bash:
Keep up the good work Bearpaw
JC :hello:
Post by: Shooting Stix on April 19, 2016, 12:37:35 PM
Post by: Big game archer on April 19, 2016, 06:58:13 PM
Nice birds looks like there is plenty flying around I am new to the turkey hunting concept and was wondering what type of turkey are those if I get into it I would like to get the slam
Those are merriams. There are some Rios and a lot of rio/Merriam hybrids on the east side as well, but ne corner is merriams.
Post by: Shooting Stix on April 20, 2016, 11:02:51 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 20, 2016, 09:10:56 PM
First Day: We had a great group of hunters in camp, Travis from Pennsylvania who is doing the State Slam and forum member crowinghen (her husband bought her the hunt I donated to Washington State Bowhunters). I set crowing hen up at my friend's property and took Travis to another property. Crowing hen nailed a dandy tom and Travis also called in nailed a very nice tom, it was a great morning! :IBCOOL:
Forum member buckhorn2 and his friend Justin arrived in the afternoon, they got settled in a cabin and were ready to hunt. In the afternoon I was stuck at home finishing taxes so guide Daniel took all the hunters to a different property in the afternoon and set them all up for the evening hunt. We had a master plan but it simply wasn't as masterfull as I thought and the evening hunt was a complete bust. Nonetheless we lamented over dinner about the success we had in the morning and what we would do the next morning. It was a risky gamble after no success in the afternoon but I wanted to hunt the same property again in the morning. I had seen over 130 birds including almost 40 toms and jakes just a couple days before season opened, they couldn't have all jumped on a spaceship and went to Mars! :dunno:
Second Day: UUUGGGHHHH I was still stuck at home working on taxes so guide Daniel took Travis and crowinghen to the same property and set them up for the morning hunt. Guide Brian took buckhorn2 and Justin each to different properties. I had told crowinghen that her husband could shoot her 2nd bird if they wanted. On the 2nd morning hubby slammed a dandy 9 7/8", Travis smoked another big 9 7/8", and buckhon2 got a dandy bird with three beards, it had 17" of beard, what an awesome morning, awesome shooting everyone! :IBCOOL:
Crowinghen and hubby headed home, Travis was headed to Nebraska next so after lunch he hit the bed to rest. Guide Daniel took buckhorn2 and Justin to a different property in the afternoon. They really weren't gone very long when Justin got his 2 toms and buckhorn2 got his 2nd tom. Awesome shooting again, "I love it when a plan comes together"! :tup:
With everyone tagged out we are now at 31 birds for the season with no one having to hunt more than 2 days. Unfortunately we don't have many more turkey hunters so the turkey success photos are probably going to slow down some now. I want to mention how much fun we've had with all the hunters this year, just awesome people! :IBCOOL:
Post by: sirmissalot on April 22, 2016, 09:45:20 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 23, 2016, 05:58:33 AM
We'll see you in a week Dale, hopefully we can help you out with some more trophy pictures :chuckle:
looking forward to it, see you then :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on April 23, 2016, 01:26:32 PM
They went to the other side of the property and made a move on a couple other birds, Scott was able to put the smack down on a dandy tom with 1"+ spurs. next they changed properties and spotted a few more birds. After a very long stalk they were within range, the tom dissipated somewhere into the cover so Scott decided to lower the hammer on a Jake. They were tagged out back early for lunch. Good going guys! :tup:
Post by: Mark251 on April 23, 2016, 01:35:01 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 02, 2016, 09:15:16 AM
Growing up in the northeast and becoming a hunting guide I've been a very lucky person to spend so much time outdoors hunting. In all these years I can never remember such an early spring. Everything has been earlier this year. On the turkey opener I found fresh bear tracks and scat but we decided to wait another two weeks to start bear hunting.
Guided Hunt
We started our first bear hunt a few days ago. The first two days it poured rain and was too cold, we weren't expecting that and it certainly impacted our bear hunt in a negative way. Finally yesterday the sun came out early and it warmed up. The hunter missed a bear yesterday morning, then in the evening they spotted a big bear just before dark at long distance. They quickly closed in but the big bear eluded them in the final minutes of light. They went after that bear again this morning, guide Daniel sent me a text, the big bear outsmarted us again, so they must have saw him again but didn't close the deal, they are still hunting.
Unguided Hunt
We also have 3 unguided hunters in camp hunting turkey and bear. I sent them to a good area for both, the first morning they called in a nice tom but wasn't able to close the deal. Yesterday they nailed a very nice bearded hen and the lady shot at a bear, unfortunately she didn't get the bear, but at least they are in animals, they have to go back home for work but should be able to come back, so it's probably just a matter of time until she notches her bear tag.
Post by: bearpaw on May 03, 2016, 01:18:09 PM
Congrats and thanks Sean! :hello:
Post by: justyhntr on May 03, 2016, 01:24:11 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 03, 2016, 05:12:02 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 03, 2016, 05:13:27 PM
:tup: Crowinghen and I will be putting in for spring bear in your area next year to .
Awesome, we would love to see you both nail a nice bear! :tup:
Post by: sirmissalot on May 05, 2016, 09:39:19 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 06, 2016, 08:28:23 PM
We'll be back tomorrow night Dale, we've sweet talked our moms into letting us hunt over the weekend! It will probably be late but we will see you Saturday
I have been out hunting, so just found your message, look forward to seeing you again. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on May 07, 2016, 09:32:21 AM
Now that another bear hunter arrives it started raining again, I couldn't believe it. We waited for the heavy rain to slow and then headed out late morning. We saw a beautiful rusty colored bear but we didn't get a shot at him before he disappeared, even though he wasn't big his color just about killed him. About an hour before dark we got onto another little better black bear. Dale decided to pass and wait for a little bigger bear so we let the black bear walk.
On day two yesterday I hunted the morning and we found where two really big boars were living, both had nice big tracks, but we couldn't find either bear. I had to take care of some other business mid day so Daniel dropped me off and they continued to hunt. They saw another bigger bear in the afternoon but it never gave them a good shot opportunity. In the evening they snuck up on another black bear that they watched, not as big as Dale originally wanted but he decided to shoot this one and dropped it with one shot. The bear has about 4 inch long thick hair, it will make a dandy rug.
Nice going Dale and Daniel! :tup:
Post by: jrebel on May 07, 2016, 10:29:17 AM
Post by: sirmissalot on May 10, 2016, 11:17:12 AM
Post by: Tschaefer72 on May 10, 2016, 01:12:10 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 10, 2016, 03:15:31 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 10, 2016, 03:59:04 PM
I headed for another property with my tail between my legs, I told the guys we would try to spot some birds to go after since we weren't getting any gobbles. We spotted from several locations and saw nothing but a couple hens and no birds would gobble so I figured we'd go to another property. Sooner or later if we kept covering ground we were bound to find some chest hair. As we were leaving we all spotted some birds right on top of the highest ridge, I stopped and we glassed them, sure enough there were at least two birds with full fans strutting.
I drove around to the back side of the ridge and we hiked to the top from the backside. As we carefully crested the top of the ridge I knew we had to be close, I stopped short of looking over the other side, Mark and I sat down behind a big old pine stump, Matt sat down 10 yards behind us with camera running. I made a couple soft calls and was greeted with several hen yelps, it sounded like they were only 50 or 60 yards away. We didn't dare move so I swapped calls with the birds as they got closer and closer. Suddenly two heads pop up to our right about 5 yards away. :yike:
As the two jakes walked slowly past the end of the gun barrel at 3 or 4 yards another couple heads popped up, we had 4 birds less than 5 yards from us, I tried hard to keep from blinking or breathing too heavy. I was watching a spot 20 yards awy where I had expected the gobbler to appear. The jakes made a half circle around us with the hens not far behind, they began to putt so I figured I'd better call to where the gobbler was at. The jakes gobbled and then the gobblers gobbled, they were just barely out of sight. All the birds were putting, I looked closer at the bigger bird, he had a bit of a beard and looked 30% bigger than the other jake, I whispered "The big bird might be a mature bird with a short beard?"
BOOM, bigger bird down, we quickly looked over the hill and Mark hammered the gobbler over the hill, the bird rolled but didn't stay down, I was trying to catch the 1st bird before he went over the steep part of the hill, I said "Mark, run after the bird you hit and shoot him again!". Mark quickly closed the gap and nailed the other gobbler again. Awesome, two birds down!
We tagged the birds, took photos and video, and then sat down for a few minutes to savor the view, these guys had never been to such a scenic spot before. We hiked back to the truck and headed for home to clean birds. The smaller bird was a big jake with a 6" beard and the bigger bird had 1" spurs with a 9" beard. I love it when a plan comes together! We had hot wings for lunch and have Tom set up in another good spot for the afternoon hunt.
Post by: Machias on May 11, 2016, 04:33:10 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2016, 08:03:20 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 12, 2016, 11:14:48 AM
We slipped in as close as we dare, it seemed like the perfect setup, I was mentally weighing and skinning Tom's 2nd bird. As we approached shooting time the hens started waking up, dang it, we were surrounded by hens! The tom flew down below us, I got pretty aggressive on the call and had him coming, then the hens started dropping out, you already know what happened, yep, they took our tom the other direction. On the way back to the truck we spotted a tom in the corrals, ok "Plan B" we put on a grand barnyard sneak, it worked pretty much as planned but the shot was about 45 yards and Tom wasn't sure so we didn't shoot.
"Plan C" we moved to a different property and quickly spotted 4 jakes and two long beards across a big field, we worked around above them, set up and I started calling. They weren't very responsive but after about 30 minutes I saw a red turkey head peeking over the rise at us at about 40 yards, then a second red head. The first head moved closer, I could see the whole neck now but couldn't tell for positive if it was one of the jakes or toms, suddenly they didn't like what they saw, 4 of us humans trying to hide and a 12 gauge pointed in their direction, we watched them leave.
OK let's find another bird, off we go, I was trying to pull a gobbler out of the hat before lunch. I came up with another "Plan D" while driving northbound, we got to the next property and snuck in to where I hoped we would get on another bird. I yelped and whammo, gobble gobble, game on! We moved down to a better position, I called but the bird seemed to be moving away from us. I called for probably 30 minutes and it had been quiet for a while and then suddenly another gobble while I was calling, I thought the bird was moving into a small clearing about 150 yards away, I told Tom let's move a little closer. We started to sneak closer and suddenly there's the boss tom standing at 45 yards looking right at us, oooppppss, rookie mistake, bird gone! :bash:
We had lunch and I worked out "Plan E"! After lunch the guys had a couple hour nap and we headed to another property. We saw a hen right off and more hens were sighted as the afternoon progressed, finally at 5:30 two gobblers came, Tom made a perfect shot and notched his 2nd tag. A beautiful old tom, 10+ inch beard when held straight, 1" spurs, big smile on Tom's face, I love it when a plan finally comes together, both hunters tagged out again in 2 days!
Post by: bearpaw on May 12, 2016, 11:23:30 AM
Post by: sirmissalot on May 17, 2016, 05:22:29 PM
Post by: Duffer on May 18, 2016, 12:18:19 AM
Post by: Ripper on May 18, 2016, 11:48:03 AM
Post by: Rem14 on May 18, 2016, 08:31:47 PM
Post by: Ripper on May 19, 2016, 01:47:12 PM
Post by: sirmissalot on May 19, 2016, 05:18:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2016, 01:08:07 AM
Had turkey hunters over the weekend, unfortunately a couple missed birds, but four tags filled, so while it wasn't the same perfect success we had been experiencing earlier in the season I was glad that we notched four turkey tags.
We also had three bear hunters in camp. sirmissalot and his dad both drew tags, on the first day of hunting dad smoked a blackie mid morning that had heavy long fur, an absolute beautiful hide on that bear. We all misjudged that bear, myself included, the young boar just wasn't as big as he looked with all that fur, but wow what a hide! For the record Blaine made a great shot, during the rest of the hunt blaine joked that sirmissalot needed a bigger bear that's easier to hit! It was good times! :chuckle:
We hunted a couple days seeing bear each day, on the 3rd day we planned a good hunt where we had seen a couple black bear previously, there was some good sized poo in the area so I knew there had to be a bigger bear. Just before we got to the parking spot we saw an awesome cinnamon bear but that bear wasn't waiting around to see what would happen. Our plan was to leave Blaine with the truck so he could come get us at the bottom, we wouldn't have to hike back up to get the truck. My gut was telling me if we did this hunt we were going to shoot a bear, it wasn't long and we were finding lots of poo, little poo, big poo, and really fresh poo, we both knew we were going to see another bear, but I'll let sirmissalot tell his story.
After we got back and finished taking care of sirmissalot's bear we sat down on the front deck for some snacks. About that time Daniel returned with jrebel and his in-laws, his mother-in-law "Rem14" had drawn a tag. Daniel said they had spotted bear the previous days but day three was the lucky day for them too. They found an area that had fresh sign, they saw a blackie but didn't have a good shot opportunity, suddenly a beautiful cinnamon/blonde bear presented the perfect shot and Barb whacked him, the boar took off on his death run but didn't make it far. They took photos, field dressed, and packed out the bear.
It was a great day, two more bear tags notched and great memories for all. I love it when a plan comes together! Thanks so much to all the great hunters we've had this season, the quality of the people we meet is what makes our business the best we could have chosen in life! THANKS AGAIN TO ALL! :tup: :hello:
Post by: jkthomps on May 20, 2016, 10:23:18 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 23, 2016, 07:12:25 PM
There were bear peels everywhere, poo after poo, fresh tracks, we were in the bear's bedroom!
But the rain hasn't stopped, it rained all day for two days and is raining again today, at 8:30 this morning we called off the hunt for now. They are going to come back hunting again after the weather gets better.
Here are a few photos from the bear bedroom:
Post by: bearpaw on May 23, 2016, 07:56:40 PM
Post by: bugs n bones on May 23, 2016, 08:24:19 PM
Here are a couple more to add to the mix, can't thank you enough for the help Dale. I've got some great footage and more pictures I'll add later. One more tag to work on :tup:gorgeous bears!
Post by: MLBowhunting on May 23, 2016, 11:32:19 PM
Post by: jasnt on May 24, 2016, 05:32:38 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 25, 2016, 07:25:48 AM
That's the nickname I gave this area with all the fresh bear peels, I know, I'm pretty original! :chuckle: Yesterday morning we headed out in pouring rain again, we checked all the good spots including Bear Peel Mountain where I expected to see a bear but found nothing except cold wet conditions. I had to come back in early to take care of other business, Daniel kept hunting. We normally average 2 to 3 days of hunting for most of our spring bear hunts, but this hunt was on day 5, the last hunt day, and it wasn't looking good. I suggested to Daniel that he check all the good spots again, especially the bear peels, and I headed back to the house. Later in the day Daniel found a nice color phase bear in the peels, Steve made a good hit on the bear and it only went about 10 to 20 feet before dropping. Way to go Steve! :tup:
Post by: quadrafire on May 25, 2016, 09:21:23 AM
Post by: Ripper on May 25, 2016, 10:40:11 AM
Post by: D-Rock425 on May 25, 2016, 10:45:43 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 25, 2016, 11:06:31 AM
Looks big, For perspective did you get a hanging weight?
It was an average sized boar bear, probably 5 1/2 footer. They always look bigger when you hang them up, for some reason the hanging photo of this bear makes him look 400 pounds, but he was nowhere close to that.
Post by: Derekjmcc on May 25, 2016, 11:30:02 AM
Post by: Lunchbox1981 on May 25, 2016, 11:55:17 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 25, 2016, 02:44:04 PM
Looks big, For perspective did you get a hanging weight?
It was an average sized boar bear, probably 5 1/2 footer. They always look bigger when you hang them up, for some reason the hanging photo of this bear makes him look 400 pounds, but he was nowhere close to that.
Daniel informed me that Steve's bear was probably closer to 6 foot, high 5's, but still wasn't near as big as it looks in that photo. :chuckle:
Steve's son Lucas saw a black bear last night but didn't have time to get a shot on it. I asked them if they could stay and hunt another day, they decided they could hunt this morning. Right off they saw a sow and two cubs, then they got on another black bear. It was kind of a long shot, about 200 yards and unfortunately Lucas didn't get the bear. He has to be back to work tomorrow so they had to leave, it's just too bad he didn't get that last bear. Thanks much for hunting with us, hope to see you again! :hello:
Post by: bearpaw on May 25, 2016, 02:54:06 PM
Glad to hear it and thanks for letting me know the last bit of advice paid off! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on May 31, 2016, 12:28:36 AM
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,196254.0.html
IDAHO SPRING BEAR WITH HOUNDS & BAIT $2950
For the last year we've been organizing this new June bear hunt. We treed numerous bear with our hounds last spring and summer, all but one we let go. One of my guides did shoot one large boar, but the rest of the bear that we treed we let them go. We also have numerous active baits right now which are being hit heavy and cleaned up by bear as fast as we can pack in the bait. We will hunt hounds in the morning, have dinner after lunch, then hunt baits in the evening until dark. This is about as exciting as bear hunting can get. HOUNDS & BAIT!
Hunt one way or both ways, our goal is to fill your bear tag!
CANCELLATIONS AVAILABLE
I've had some cancellations between June 11-30, one guy had surgery and I think both he and his partner are going to cancel until next year. Another hunter had to cancel due to unexpected circumstances. I had two hunts that hadn't sold yet so now I have 5 hunts to sell. We offered the hunts this year at $2950, next year the price will be $3450. Hunt now while the price is $2950 plus 6% sales tax and $196.50 for license and tag, this will be one bear hunting experience you will never forget.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Base camp is our 6 acre property with an older 3 bedroom/2 bath double wide with outbuildings and new dog kennels. The lodging is comfortable and warm, the meals are guide prepared but edible. LOL
HOUNDS & BAITS
We've been hunting hounds since the 70's and have dogs that can catch bear. Our baits are strategically located and being cleaned up as fast as we can pack in the bait.
I'll post new photos in this topic as the hunts progress this year.
Post by: bearpaw on June 02, 2016, 08:39:32 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 02, 2016, 08:44:42 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 03, 2016, 06:34:36 AM
Scott and I headed out early, we were in great country, I told Scott I had a good feeling about the morning. We hunted for about two hours before spotting a nice color phase bear on an open hillside at about 250 yards. He was busy grubbing around so we closed the distance a little and got into a good prone shooting position at about 220 yards. We were in no hurry as the bear had no idea we were in his neighborhood.
As Scott waited for a good broadside shot I watched the bear scarfing down leafy vegetation. Finally the cinnamon bear gave Scott a good broadside shot, the 270 Weatherby roared, the bear wheeled and went about 10 yards uphill and sort of sat/laid down and was groveling around, I told Scott "He's hit hard, I think he's going to die there!" Scott said, "He's behind that tree I don't have a shot!" we watched a few seconds that seemed like minutes and the bear suddenly got up and started walking slowly downhill. "Shoot him again!" Boom, but the bear kept walking, "Shoot Again", Boom, but the bear kept walking as saw dirt fly up right in front of him, Scott exclaims "I'm out of shells!", "Do you have more?", "Yes, in my pack!", Scott scuried to his pack and got more cartridges, I stayed on the bear with my binos, "He's down by the bottom!" Scott was back in position, Boom, "Shoot again" Click, the reload hadn't picked up another cartridge, Scott reloaded again, Boom, "He's still walking", Scott reloaded then a stick got caught under the bolt, Scott got it out but by then the bear had disappeared into the creek bottom.
As we stared where the bear had disappeared Scott and I quickly discussed our options, the bear was obviously hit pretty hard but he was able to walk without limping, but he didn't run off, he walked. I figured he was hit a little too far back. "I think we should back off and not push him, let's just leave and give him lots of time to lay down and die, either he will die where he stops or he will live, but if we push him now I'm afraid we might lose him because he can walk just fine!"
We turned around and headed toward the truck, it was about 6:30, "Lets give him till 12:30 and by then hopefully he gets septic and either we find him dead or he is sick enough we get another shot before he runs off!" Somewhere along the way Scott and I looked directly at each other and I realized he had been scoped, blood was running down his nose, in fact the second shot got him, that's probably why some the following shots weren't hits.
We got back to the truck and headed back to the house. "Let's go shoot your gun and make sure it's OK!" We got back to the house and the tough wait began. Scott was bummed but hopeful, the time passed slowly, my wife fixed an early lunch, we ate and headed back out to search. Daniel came along to assist with the search. We found the bear's tracks and followed them to the thick brush, we lost the tracks and hadn't seen any blood so we split, Scott stayed with me, I only went a short distance peering down into the creek bottom and then I spotted the bear, he was dead. He had only gone about 75 yards from where we last seen him, it appeared he had bedded down and that's where he eventually died. I don't think he had been dead for too long, the flies were just beginning to find him. We took photos and then gutted him and drug him out. Back at the house we skinned and boned him, the bear had not been hit in the vitals, the shot was just a little far back, so we were lucky to get him.
We reflected several times about everything, I think Scott got rattled when he got scoped which explained the misses, we also were glad we hadn't pushed the bear earlier and instead backed off, because we didn't pursue him the bear basically bedded down as soon as he was well out of sight and that is where he eventually died.
While hunting the first day Scott had told me about his first bear, a beautiful cinnamon that he had Fred Peters rug, but it had been stolen out of his house. I had said that maybe we would get lucky and find a replacement. This bear has a beautiful cinanamon color and Scott said it is a perfect replacement. How lucky is that? :IBCOOL:
Post by: Typical8 on June 03, 2016, 06:57:47 AM
Post by: Motorjosh on June 03, 2016, 10:40:34 AM
Post by: annie_oakley on June 05, 2016, 07:13:08 AM
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuploads.tapatalk-cdn.com%2F20160605%2F7aa351b21cf76e1ca34a933e20681b53.jpg&hash=fcc7567e700284ec2ddb796586490069ccdd20c1)
This hunt was so much fun and I finally was able to notch my first bear tag. Thanks for all the hospitality Dale.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: steen on June 05, 2016, 09:25:59 AM
We found several fresh peels, but this was probably the freshest peel, I think we jumped the bear off the peel, he had just started down low and hadn't finished scraping the cambium layer with his teeth, there was fresh poo next to the tree that hadn't discolored (darkened). You can see the horizontal marks at the bottom of the closeup tree photo where the bear ripped of the bark with his paw before going up and down vertical with his teeth to scrape off the sweet inner cambium layer. The lack of many horizontal marks tells me it's very easy for a bear to rip the bark off. We decided to see why the bear like this stuff so much. Blaine scraped some cambium off the tree and we all tried it. It tasted like a sweet pine tree, not real good but better than I expected and probably better than anything else in the woods right now. If it's all you could find I think you could survive on it for a while. (At least until you developed too much turpentine in your system!) :chuckle:
Thanks for posting the pictures and the info on the cambium. I have never read anything on it before. It was very interesting!
Post by: bearpaw on June 05, 2016, 09:55:31 AM
We found several fresh peels, but this was probably the freshest peel, I think we jumped the bear off the peel, he had just started down low and hadn't finished scraping the cambium layer with his teeth, there was fresh poo next to the tree that hadn't discolored (darkened). You can see the horizontal marks at the bottom of the closeup tree photo where the bear ripped of the bark with his paw before going up and down vertical with his teeth to scrape off the sweet inner cambium layer. The lack of many horizontal marks tells me it's very easy for a bear to rip the bark off. We decided to see why the bear like this stuff so much. Blaine scraped some cambium off the tree and we all tried it. It tasted like a sweet pine tree, not real good but better than I expected and probably better than anything else in the woods right now. If it's all you could find I think you could survive on it for a while. (At least until you developed too much turpentine in your system!) :chuckle:Thanks for posting the pictures and the info on the cambium. I have never read anything on it before. It was very interesting!
It's pretty interesting looking over those peels, some of them were peeled up to 7+ feet. I had never seen so many peels in one area, there are literally hundreds of trees peeled, mostly larch from 6" to 10" diameter. There were several sizes of poo so I'm sure there's more than the bear we killed peeling trees in that area. I've been told that cubs will learn from a sow, those cubs grow up and peel, their cubs learn to peel, and so forth, this is learned and continues with each generation of bear, they'll all likely peel trees. Generally it's a bigger problem on the westside, that's the most aggressive peeling I've ever seen anywhere in NE WA. It's usually far more random in the NE and not so concentrated.
Post by: bearpaw on June 05, 2016, 09:57:58 AM
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuploads.tapatalk-cdn.com%2F20160605%2Fd9e44c9192b6e7511c896a1662a3c321.jpg&hash=aac7d45a0af0b7f9d61de150c6f2dce7c4908e92)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuploads.tapatalk-cdn.com%2F20160605%2F7aa351b21cf76e1ca34a933e20681b53.jpg&hash=fcc7567e700284ec2ddb796586490069ccdd20c1)
This hunt was so much fun and I finally was able to notch my first bear tag. Thanks for all the hospitality Dale.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
annie_oakley it was our pleasure having you here, I'm so glad that you got such a beautiful bear. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on June 05, 2016, 10:05:56 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 07, 2016, 08:14:05 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 07, 2016, 08:19:01 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 07, 2016, 08:24:20 PM
Post by: MLBowhunting on June 09, 2016, 09:53:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 10, 2016, 12:34:58 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 10, 2016, 12:37:19 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 10, 2016, 12:39:28 PM
Soon sir. :tup:
I'm sure you are going have a great time!
Post by: idaho guy on June 10, 2016, 01:32:33 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on June 10, 2016, 01:39:07 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 10, 2016, 01:41:59 PM
Pretty bear and great looking tom! To bad he was not fair game.
He'll be bigger when season opens for cats! :tup:
Post by: CementFinisher on June 12, 2016, 08:10:10 PM
Post by: MLBowhunting on June 14, 2016, 09:24:59 AM
Post by: Ripper on June 17, 2016, 12:02:13 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 17, 2016, 12:10:49 PM
There sure we're a lot of bears killed over in your area this year Dale. Was this a better than average season or is it always this good? I know I only hunted 3 full days and saw 3 bears. There sure is a lot of tree damage on the back side of the 49 degree N ski area. Do you ever Hunt down that way?
A few mild winters in a row have greatly increased the bear population, there are a lot of small bear. I was worried last fall, bear were skinny, if it had been a hard cold winter at least half would have died, instead we had a mild winter that wasn't so hard on them and bear were out eating a full month earlier than usual. I've hunted the entire unit, there's hardly a mountain on public ground in NE WA that I haven't been on. Tree damage is spotty, but I saw more this year than I've ever seen over here.
Post by: bearpaw on June 17, 2016, 12:12:44 PM
Getting closer Bearpaw. :tup:
Brian and the hounds are ready to go! You're going to have a blast!